Justine E Hausheer

Sunshine Coast

Science Communications Specialist - Asia Pacific at The Nature Conservancy

Follow me @justinehausheer.bsky.social. 🦋 science writer/editor @nature_brains. Book on Australian wildlife conservation out in 2026 from NewSouth.

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Articles

The Overlooked Biodiversity of Appalachian Caves

6 days ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

The Nature Conservancy’s Cave and Karst Program Manager Cory Holliday likes to think of caves as a “bonus habitat.” He says, “if you’re in a place with caves, that’s just an extra ecosystem.”Holliday’s home of Tennessee has an abundance of caves. These 12,000 habitats help make the it the most species-rich inland state in the country. Similar to sinkholes and springs, karst caves are formed over long periods of time when water moving underground dissolves soluble bedrock.
Meet the Mole Crab, a Common and Surprising Beach Creature

1 week ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

My young son and I dug with our plastic shovels, fortifying the sand castle against the oncoming tide. In one scoop, my son gave an excited yell of surprise. He swiveled to show me the creature perched on his shovel. To me, this animal has always resembled a fat shrimp that has lost most of its tail. Or perhaps, a supersized sowbug. We admired it briefly, then placed it back down in the sand.
A Kayak in Search of a Fish

2 weeks ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

A few hours-drive southwest of Chicago, a landscape of wetlands, prairies and ridgelines stretches out near the Illinois River. Known as Emiquon, the area was once among the most productive wetland landscapes along one of the most productive inland fisheries in North America.
Meet the Civet, the Mammal Behind the Coffee

2 weeks ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

It was my kind of meeting: coffee with a wildlife twist. At a recent work gathering at The Nature Conservancy’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, my colleague Alex Novak promised a special treat. Alex, always overflowing with enthusiasm, buzzed around the conference room. And he wasn’t even caffeinated yet. He had just visited Indonesian Borneo with corporate partner Arhaus, a furniture brand.
Chasing Unicorns: A Photographer’s Journey Documenting Rhino Conservation

3 weeks ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

More than 15 years ago Montana-based photographer Ami Vitale first photographed a story on the northern white rhinoceros. The animal—a subspecies of the white rhino—was on the verge of being declared functionally extinct. The story was tragic, and it left an impression.
Tracking the Tiny Bats of Aotearoa

1 month ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

Grey dawn light filters into the sky as I search the tree tops. I huddle against the truck, propping my elbows on its side to steady the thermal monocular in my hands. Peering through the viewfinder, the trees on the other side of the river transform from dark shapes to a tangle of glowing color: purple, magenta, oranges and yellows. But I’m looking for white — the bright white glow that indicates a group of bat pups huddled inside a tree hollow.
Earth Day Book Review 2025

1 month ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

Conservation is in no small part about shaping what we want the world to be. Books have long helped shape that vision. They have played an instrumental role in launching the modern U.S. environmental movement, in particular Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. Notably, both Carson and Leopold were dedicated field scientists. Their big ideas originated from their experiences and observations.
Meet Four Amazing Endemic Parrots from New Zealand

2 months ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

Asking a birder to name their favorite species is like asking a parent to pick their favorite child. For most of us, it’s an impossible task. But if you ask me to name my favorite type of bird? Well then, things get a bit easier. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m absolutely besotted with parrots. They’re colorful and charismatic, but also strange, secretive, and highly adaptable.
50 Fish, 50 States: Rhode Island’s Wild Brook Trout

2 months ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer

I’m on a quest to catch a fish in each of the 50 U.S. states – and to use each adventure as a means to explore conservation, the latest fisheries research and our complicated connections to the natural world. It was a pleasant June morning, a bit of humidity in the air, as we headed down a little path through eastern hardwood forest. I carried a light fiberglass fly rod. The sound of a mountain stream tempted me, but I followed my new friend, who was taking me to his secret pond.
These Carnivorous Snails Slurp Earthworms Like Spaghetti

2 months ago | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer |Matthew Miller |Natalie van Hoose

It’s a dark, rainy night in the beech forests of New Zealand. As the rain patters on the leaf litter, a slow-motion chase plays out on the forest floor. A predatory snail is on the hunt. The size of a lemon, it slides along the forest floor, leaving a glistening slime trail in its wake. It’s prey: an unsuspecting earthworm, wriggling along the snail’s path. A pause, and the snail lunches forward, grasping the worm in its mouth and slurping it down like a long, saucy strand of spaghetti.